Money and the Nation State

The Financial Revolution, Government and the World Monetary System

Kevin Dowd

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781560009306, 9781560003021
• eBook ISBN: 9781351291620
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Economic Theory
• Index: Economics

Monetary and banking problems in the world today arise not so much from the failure of specific policies as from more deep-seated problems in institutional structures. Individuals clearly make mistakes and legislatures make bad laws, but the institutions from which decisions and laws emanate determine the effectiveness of social operations and the value of social decisions. Unless we change the present institutional structure, we are not likely to get stable solutions to today's most serious problems—ongoing and often erratic inflation and serious banking instability. Money and the Nation State examines the history of modern monetary and banking arrangements, some of the major monetary and banking problems, and options for meaningful reform.

The common theme of all the essays is that current arrangements result less from the accomplishments of great men than man-made institutions that society has inherited—central banks and "the legal and regulatory frameworks that accompany them. The contributors emphasize the impact of political interference on the workings of monetary and financial institutions. Not surprisingly, they find many problems arise because politically generated structures are inappropriate to the real needs of the individuals and groups they are meant to serve. Money and the Nation State provides an essential framework for those willing to return to first principles in thinking about the role of monetary institutions in economic life. Economists, financial theorists, and the interested citizen will find it stimulating reading.

Index

Absolutism, 48, 53, 61, 68n10

fiction of, 57–59

state sovereignty and, 54

Abu Dhabi, BCCI and, 240, 241

Action-talk, semantics of, 55

Act of 1819, 175

Addis, Sir Charles S., 114, 129

Adjustment mecahnisms, 249, 250, 262

contrasting, 385–88

Age of Tyrants, coinage during, 24

ALCOA, 122

Allied Control Council

economic conference and, 129–30

taxation and, 268, 298nnl, 5

American Smelting and Refining, 117

Anderson, Benjamin M., 161n47, 162n65

on gold standard, 80, 154

on hyperinflation policy, 264

Anti-inflation policy, 336, 337, 338

Argentina, stabilization in, 280–82

Aridor, Yoram

monetary reform and, 41–42n10

supply-side economics of, 278

Aristophanes, 41n7

Aristotle, 68n 12, 72n51

Asian Tigers, stabilization for, 275–76

Assets

diversification of, 203

quality problems with, 218

Association of French Banks, deposit

insurance and 223, 225

AT&T, 122

Aurenheimer, L. 42n 15

Austerity, 253, 262, 264

antigrowth, 263

tax-nduced, 254

(theories on 251–52

Austral Plan, 264

Austria, government revenue in 267 (table)

Austrian National Bank, 341

Austro-Hungarian Bank, gold standard and, 79

Bagehot, Walter, 178

on lender of last resort, 219–20

on one-reserve system of banking

Bailey, W.J., 144

Balance of payments, 323n33

devaluation and, 247

disequilibrium in, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 94, 107, 331–32

gold standard and, 107

monetary policy and, 259

Balladur, Eduard: Bank of France and 373n14

Bank-issued money, 383

international acceptance of, 395

nation...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• I. The History of the Modern International Monetary System
• II. Modern Money and Central Banking
• III. Foundations for Monetary and Banking Reform
• About the Editors and Contributors
• Index